Life as a Teenage Bird Kid
by TMI
Summary: Little Angel is all grown up, a freshman in high school, enrolled under the name Avari. What will happen when a boy suddenly enters her life, and accidentally discovers her secrets, that she is Angel, the youngest member of the now famous Flock? Angel/OC
1. The Announcement and Tommy B

**A story about one of the littler mentioned bird kids. I always felt sorry for them. Nudge and Gazzy more than Angel, but I still love the cute little girl!**

**I'll explain why I wrote this in the middle of my other three stories at the bottom. But for now, just read!**

It was the last week of my freshman year, and I was super excited! I was running a bit late as an effect from Gazzy hogging all of the hot water for showers- again- and was running to my homeroom when the announcements turned on. I groaned internally. Ms. Liaffe never let anyone into the room until announcements were over, if they got there late. Resigned, I dropped to a walk, making sure my wings were tightly pulled in against my back. No one at this school knew that Gazzy, Nudge and I were part of the now famous Flock. For some reason, no one recognized us at all, even though we only hid our wings and real names from them. All they knew was that we lived with our super cool college age siblings, and were great atheletes. My brother was on the boys' soccer team, Nudge on the girls', and I ran cross country. Max had warned us not to be suspiciously spectacular, so even while we were the superstars of our teams, we could have easily done better.

Nudge had chosen to go with her real name, Monique, as a cover up. Gazzy had wanted to still use Captain Teror, being the obnoxious teenage boy he had become, but we convinced him to stick with Zephyr. I had surfed the internet for a little while before choosing my name, trying to find something meaningful. I saw all kinds of cool names, like Aurelia, meaning "golden," and Aysel, "moonlight." However, the name I chose for myself was more connected to me. Avari, meaning, "of the heavens, from the sky." I came from the sky, being part bird, and my name, Angel, was definitely of the heavens. We all kept Max's last name, Ride.

I had zoned out, wishing I had a scarf or something, since my wet hair (I only had time for a quick towel dry) was chilling the back of my neck as a breeze blew by. Now, I started listening to the announcements, remembering that Ms. Liaffe sometimes quizzed late comers on them as punishment for being late. I could tell that the reading was almost at the end, since they were talking about sports announcements, which came second to last every day. I smiled as I listened.

"The sports teams all did well in their final matches and meets this weekend. Our boys soccer team tied, then won the game in overtime. Good job, boys! The girls team also won, allowing no goals on themselves, and scoring four on the other team. A special shout out to Monique Ride, the player of the game, for scoring two of the goals. Good job girls, and especially to Monique! The swim meets were also highly successful, with excellent results. Tommy Baker broke the school record for free style, swimming the two full laps in thirty seven seconds! Congratulations Tommy! The track team won their meet too, with spectacular times in all events. Also, the girls cross country team won out the entire race in their division, with team captain Avari Ride leading them to victory! Good job girls! That is all for the sports news today. On to student announcements!" I beamed momentarily, loving the attention brought to Nudge and I. I listened back in to the announcements when I heard the reader change, and a male voice started talking.

"Hey all freshmen, I, Kyle Taylors, am hosting an end of school bash to celebrate our great first year. It will be a beach party on the sands of Montelli Shore. I reserved the whole area for us, so come on! Oh, and older kids? Don't try to sneak in. I'm having guards check IDs as people arrive." Kyle's disembodied voice paused for a moment, to let the idea of a huge beach bash sink into our heads. I stared ahead at the gray wall across the hallway from me, and leaned back on the wall of my classroom. Apparently, Kyle wasn't finished. "And one more thing. All of the freshmen are invited. Every single one of you. So Avari, don't try to not come and get away with that excuse, or I'll track you down and make you come. You're all coming." I could feel my cheeks heat up as he singled me out of the entire freshmen class. I sank to the ground, holding my books tightly against me for comfort. I could hear my classmates inside laugh as they heard Kyle threatening me over the announcements. I didn't hear the rest of the announcements as my embarrassment turned to anger, and I could barely see because of it. How dare he do that to me! I would track _him _down and give him a talking to after this. Finally, the rest of the announcements finished, and I pushed open the door, stalking inside. Everyone grinned and laughed for a second, then stopped when they saw my face. I was on the rampage, and by now they knew better than to get in my way.

One of my human friends, a girl named Trish, came up to me and sat me down at my seat as Ms. Liaffe started taking attendance. "I'll help you beat him up," she whispered. I smiled at her, temporarily pulled out of my angry haze.

"Thanks Trish, but I'm going to try not to get violent. I'm just going to yell at him this time. As a warning, maybe, to never get Avari Ride mad!" I quietly banged my fist on the table for effect. She giggled, and looked up as Ms. Liaffe called her name.

"Here!"

~*!*~

I tried to concentrate during my first four periods, listening attentively to the teacher, and glaring at anyone who tried to comment on Kyle's announcement. Algebra, as always, flew by, and History, as always, dragged by. I survived with my anger throughout those classes, plus Art and English. Listening in on my fellow freshmen's thoughts, I could tell they were all dying to tease me. I stalked through the hallways, daring any that met my eyes to mess with Avari Ride today. I only calmed down while I punched the clay flat in Art, and when I wrote out my thoughts in English. Even my favorite equations in Algebra failed to placate me, since I was too mad to concentrate fully on them.

When the bell rang and signaled the end of English, I gathered up my books and headed for the door, grimly intent on giving Kyle Taylors a piece of my mind. As I started out, Ms Brims, my teacher, called, "Avari? A moment, please?"

Grudgingly, I turned back and plopped my books on a desk. Dropping my pouty girl act, I walked over and sat down, grinning, in the desk in front of hers. "Yeah Ms Brims?"

She smiled encouragingly at me. "Try not to let Kyle feel that he succeeded in embarrassing you. And don't break his arm like you did to the last poor sap." Ms Brims was also the girls sporting coach, and the only staff member besides the principal and PE teacher that knew Nudge, Gazzy and I's true identities. The principal had to be notified before we started school, of course. The PE teacher was told so he didn't treat us like average kids, which would probably drive all others trying to compete with us to exhaustion. Instead, he put us on sports teams so we wouldn't be required to take PE class as part of the daily curriculum. He was a smart man. Ms Brims, however, was originally not supposed to be informed. I told her so that Nudge and I could be given special privileges that allowed us a small, private part of the locker rooms to change clothes. We didn't want the other girls to find out we had wings.

I thought over what Ms Brims had said about Kyle, wondering if she was right. "Ms Brims, I just want to give him a talking to. No broken appendages this time, I swear. Girl scouts' honor," I promised, holding up my hand in the girl scout sign.

"You're not a girl scout Angel," she told me, trying to act stern.

"Whatever do you mean? My name is Avari!" I looked at her wide eyed and innocently. She laughed, giving way to her previous serious demeanor.

"Of course it is, how forgetful of me, _Avari._ Anyway, I believe it is time for lunch. Good luck getting your words through Kyle's thick head." Ms Brims let us out of her classroom, locked the door, and walked off to the teacher's lounge. I giggled. One thing I love about Ms Brims is how she is so frank with me about what she really thinks. Probably because she knows if she doesn't say it, I'll read her mind and know what she's thinking anyway.

I headed off to my locker, spinning the combination on the little black dial. The only sounds in the empty hallway were the clicks of the tumblers as my locker door swung open. Stepping back, I pulled out my backpack and took out my lunch and the books for my next two classes, shoving in the books from my previous ones. I stuffed the bag back into my locker, and placed the books for my classes after lunch in the front of my locker so I could get to them quickly. I slammed the door shut, using up a bit of my angry strength so I wouldn't accidently kill Kyle. Walking off down the hall, the previous silence ebbed away as I got closer to the quad, where everyone ate lunch. Soon I was in the middle of the roaring din of my fellow teenagers, talking and eating. Looking about, I found Nudge and Gazzy sitting with some of our mutual friends at a blue table right smack in the middle of the quad. Weaving through the throng of people standing up, I made my way over to them, plopping down my lunch on the table. "Hi Monique, hi Zephyr, hi Jake, hi Dale, hi Fiona," I rattled off everyone's names before I sat down next to Nudge.

"Hi Avari, wassup?" Jake asked. I shrugged, taking my first sandwich out of a plastic bag. Iggy had packed us three different kinds each, plus other snacks, to keep up with our metabolisms. Dale and Gazzy did the 'cool guy' nod, which I returned solemnly, then burst out laughing, almost snorting the lettuce from my sandwich out my nose. Gazzy looked disdainfully down his nose at me for a moment, then joined me laughing, along with Dale. Fiona grinned and gave me a hi, while I braced myself for Nudge's imminent chatter.

"Hey Ang- Avari, what was up with that Kyle dude on the announcements he had no right to say that about you I have half a mind to go over to that wimpy little freshman and kick his butt to New Jersey. Better yet, I could get Max to do it. Or Fa-nick. Ooh that would be funny if Nick did it I can just imagine, Kyle standing there while Nick melts out of the shadows with his cool talent and suddenly booting Kyle's rump and then he goes sailing into the sky holding his butt and howling. Tee hee. Or I can imagine Max doing it she would probably stalk up to him, punch him in the face, then "kick his skinny little butt into next Tuesday" as she would say. That would be funny too. Hee hee wait- what was I talking about again?" Nudge sat there thinking for a second, while Fiona snickered and I just sat chewing my sandwich. Done with the first one, I started eagerly on my next. "Oh yeah!" Nudge squealed suddenly, almost making me drop my PB&J. "I was talking about that Kyle jerk! Are you going to do something to him Avari?"

"Well, Ms Brims said no broken appendages this time. So I'm just going to yell at him," I reported. Fiona nodded sagely at this, ripping a bite out of her sandwich. Kyle was her ex-boyfriend, before she met Dale, who was way cuter and nicer, not to mention funnier, than Kyle. Nudge booed for a moment at the "no breaking bones" rule, but gave in to the reasoning.

After I finished my last sandwich (a BLT, yummy!) and the bags of chips and peaches that Iggy had stocked me with, I stood up and scanned the quad, looking for the jerk that had ruined my morning. I spotted him in the corner, rough-housing with his buddies. I growled at the sight of him, and handed Gazzy my lunchbox. "Uh oh," he joked in mock-terror. "My sister is on the rampage! If I were that Kyle dude, I'd be hiding under a bed in Cuba by now." Jake laughed and nodded vigorously. I barely noticed that as I stalked over to Kyle's table. When he saw me coming, he straightened up and grinned cockily. I didn't notice at the time, but the din of lunchtime quieted a bit when people thought they saw a fight coming.

"Kyle Taylors," I said pleasantly. He blinked, probably expecting a shriek of rage instead of my polite, conversational tone.

"Avari Ride," he mimicked in a poor imitation of my voice. I stared at him dangerously while his stupid rocks for friends laughed. _Ooh she's hot when she's mad,_ the idiot known as Kyle thought. I grimaced for a second, then smoothed out my expression again.

"Why did you threaten me over the announcements? Too scared to confront me head on and say that to my face?" My voice was calm and controlled, to my delight. Kyle couldn't seem to understand that I wasn't mad. Ooh, I was mad. I just wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing it.

"Of course I'm not scared of a little girl like you," he blustered, trying to gain ground on me. I looked on coolly as his face turned a bit red.

"Really? You truly aren't scared of me?" I asked softly, but loud enough that other people could still hear. I wanted to give them a show to remember.

"No, I'm not frightened at all!" He seemed to be proud about using a word other than 'scared.' Wow.

"Ah. I see. Then I'll just have to make you scared." With that, I swung my hand forward lightning fast and punched him in the cheek, making sure not to hit him hard enough to even bruise. I could hear calls of "Ooh!" and "He got schooled," and most of all, "Burn!"

The force of my weak little punch (for an Avian-American, that was a rather flimsy blow) knocked poor little Kyle off his feet and into one of his rocks-for-brains buddies. He staggered as he stood up, looking incredulously at me. I smiled sweetly back, and turned to go. "Feisty," he muttered as I left. That stopped me. I whirled back around, grinning dangerously.

"You better believe it, rock head. Or I'll have to school you some more." More comments from the watchers. I walked casually back to our table and took my lunch bag from my brother. Gazzy grinned and high fived me, as did Nudge. After a second of silence, Fiona and the other two boys broke out in broad smiles and high fived me too. "I'm going to the library. See you guys after school." I headed out of the quad, and entered the cool quiet of the library. Sighing happily, I picked up the newest book I was reading, none other than _Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment._I was interested to know how Max, under the pseudonym James Patterson, had recorded our adventures. Flipping to the first page, I unconsciously nodded in agreement while Max described her dream where she was flying away from the Erasers, and I had to stifle a giggle when I read about Fang doing his "I'm-a-quiet-little-emo-intent-on-sneaking-around-quietly-to-see-if-people-notice-me" thing on Max. Dang, she was a good writer! It was just me and the librarian shelving books on the other side of the room, the rest of the place was deserted. After a few minutes, the librarian came up to me and tapped my shoulder. My head shot up, since I was so engrossed in Max's book that I hadn't realized she was there.

"Miss Ride? I'm going to catalog books in the back room, are you going to be alright here alone for the rest of the lunch period?" I smiled and nodded, happy that she trusted me to behave here while she was gone. The librarian smiled back at me and disappeared through a door behind her desk, while I resumed reading. At the same time, the front door opened. I felt a whoosh of the warmer outside air as a new person entered the room.

"The librarian is in the back," I informed them quietly, still looking down at my book.

"Ah, but I was looking for you, Avari." The voice was amused and male. I overheard a spilled thought from his mind.

_ Ooh, she's as pretty as she was the other day. Prettier, I guess, since she isn't all sweaty from running now. _

I giggled by accident, but stealthily turned it into a cough. Oh, I'm so skilled. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked innocently, looking up for the first time. The boy was tall and lean, taller than me, which was a bit surprising, since we bird kids are taller than most people. He had blonde hair that almost glowed in the dim light. I recognized him somehow, but I was sure I hadn't met him before.

"I'm Tommy. Tommy Baker?" he almost said this like it was a question. My thoughts clicked. Tommy Baker was the star of the swim team, even though he was a freshman. I recognized him from the time the Photography Club wanted to take pictures of all the sports teams. I guessed his hair was that way because of all of the chlorine he was exposed to as a swimmer. Even as I processed all this, I automatically replied.

"Oh yeah! You're on the swim team, aren't you? Congrats on beating that record, by the way." I smiled brightly at him, and his tanned skin turned slightly pink. Was he sunburned, or did I just make him blush?

"Thanks Avari," he mumbled. I frowned for a moment, noticing something.

"Hey, why do you know me and I don't know you?" I questioned him, standing up. I was right, Tommywasabout an inch taller than me. He smiled, a white-teeth-you-see-in-tooth-product-commercials smile. I unconsciously smiled a little in reply.

"Well, I don't always have my head in a book," he started. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, you don't always have your head in a book, just most of the time."

"Gee, thanks. But that doesn't answer my question. And why are you looking for me?"

"Umm, I kind of saw your performance out there in the quad before-" he started. I felt my cheeks heat up a bit. Why did I care what this swimmer boy thought of me and my actions? "-and I wanted to congratulate you," he finished with a grin. This startled me a bit. Most boys I meet don't like the fact I can kick their butts around if I want to.

"Thanks, I guess." I took a step forward, keeping my place in the Maximum Ride book with one hand. Tommy smiled back at me, and stepped forward too, so there was only about a foot of space in between us. My heart fluttered a bit in my chest, and I automatically folded my wings in tighter to my body, like I always did when going in closer quarters with people at this school. "But I'm guessing that isn't the only reason you came, to congratulate me on punching a guy in the face."

He laughed, edging a bit closer to me. "You're right, Avari. Very observing of you," he teased, his voice warm and happy. In my state of confused and flustered girly-ness, my powers went on auto-pilot, and I heard every thought going through Tommy's head. _Wow what am I doing, I just met this girl. She is amazing already though, after just two minutes. Mmm her hair smells good. Just get to the point already Tommy. _Tommy cleared his throat, and I involuntarily jumped. I hadn't been paying attention to anything but his thoughts that had floated into my mind. I landed back on the ground a little closer to him than before. "I was wondering if you would like an escort to this freshman celebration of Kyle's. I know your siblings can't go with you, since it's only freshman allowed, so maybe you'd like me to?" He trailed off hopefully. I smiled what I hoped was a dazzling smile.

"I'd love it if you could take me, Tommy," I told him warmly. His thoughts went blank, and I just received a happy vibe off him. Giggling a little, I stepped a bit closer to him. Tommy raised his hands a little and placed them on my shoulders, pulling me the rest of the way to him. I let him pull me closer, and stopped about the tiniest bit away from him, my body just brushing his. I could hear his breathing now, short little intakes of air. I could feel my heart thumping quickly in my chest, and hoped he wouldn't notice. I raised my head a little to look him in the eye, a slight smile lighting up on my face. Tommy tilted his head down a little, and our noses touched together. We stood there for a second, until I realized that anyone might walk in and see me practically inhaling Tommy after I had just met him. I blew a stream of air gently onto his face, silently thanking Iggy for packing me breath mints today. Tommy jumped for a second, and pulled away, grinning.

"I guess I'll see you around then, Avari. Bye." And with that, Tommy strolled out the doors glancing back for a moment, then waving and walking away. I stood there for a moment, holding a hand on my heart, trying to calm it as I stared after him.

"How did I never notice him before?" I asked myself, plopping down breathlessly into my chair. I stared at the picture of Max on the cover of the book, as if her image would give me answers. It didn't. Suddenly, the warning bell rang, and I was jolted out of my thoughts. Standing up, I gathered up _Maximum Ride _ and hurried out the door.

~*!*~

Fang grinned as he stepped out of the shadows of a bookshelf, suddenly walking into the light of the room anyone would have sworn he wasn't in before. Angel hadn't picked up on his thoughts, so his new technique _did _work. Excellent.

Fang strolled lazily across the room and placed a book down on the librarian's desk. It was Gazzy's overdue book, the one that Fang had so caringly decided to return to the school when he left it at home again. And what did his little trip yield? An interesting little scoop of action between little Angel and an unknown boy. Fang was confident the boy had to be a good one, since it was Angel who was so interested in him. She would have picked up on any bad intentions he had, and since she apparently didn't, the boy was okay with him.

Max, on the other hand, would not be pleased that her little girl was growing up. Fang decided that he wouldn't be the one to tell her about the boy. Maybe he would tell Iggy and let him tell Max. Fang grinned again, before walking out the door and stepping out behind the building. A quick look around showed that no one was around, so he cracked open his wings and whooshed off into the sky, immediately soaring behind a cloud so that he was invisible to viewers below.

The librarian stepped out of the backroom, holding a stack of new books to be labeled and covered. Placing them gently on her desk, the lady noticed that Avari Ride had left. The girl was very sweet, which was why the librarian had left her alone in the library. She wouldn't do anything bad to the books, or start making out with a boy, like some other girls she could have mentioned, would have if left alone in here. She suddenly noticed a book on her desk that certainly hadn't been there before. It was Zephyr Ride's, Avari's brother's, book. The lady could have sworn that Avari hadn't walked in with it, and the boy certainly hadn't returned it during the few minutes between Avari leaving and the librarian entering. Zephyr never "wasted" a moment of lunchtime in the library. Hmm, the librarian wondered. Now where had this book sprung from? Oh well, she decided at last. At least it was back safely, unlike the other book Zephyr returned. That one, the librarian shuddered at the thought of the condition he returned his other book in. That was a memory better left alone.

**Okay, I know I am an evil author for starting two new fics when I already have two going, but I can't get any good inspiration going for Iggy's episode of Money Wars, which is the next one, and C+F=C, I kind of have on hold for the moment. My brand new one, Max's Special Powers!, is going to be updated soon, I promise. This fic just kind of came to me, and I decided to write it down instead of losing a good idea. Please don't hate me! And review please!**

**~TMI~**


	2. Family Life with The Flock

**Hi people! I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a million years, but truth be told, I don't really like this story. I read somewhere that authors always hate the stories that other people like the best, and now it's the truth for me! Sigh… ALSO, this is very important. An anonymous reviewer by the name of Wingz Fr Life reviewed and told me, "U hv tu updt dis 1. It is so kewl and btr thn te othrs."**

…

**First of all, that is the worst spelling in a review that I have ever seen, in my stories or any others. XD And I don't know whether to be flattered, or insulted. I like my other stories, and I think they're pretty good. Does anyone else think this story is way better than my others? Please tell me, but PLEASE don't state your opinion like Wingz Fr Life did. It depressed me for days. OK! Rant is over, so on with the long-awaited second chapter! XD **

**Angel's POV**

I got home before Nudge and Gazzy did, unlocking the door and stepping into the cool gloom of the front hallway. They had to stay at school for soccer practice every school-day and one to three games per weekend, while I only had cross country practice four days a week, plus a meet every Thursday. We lived in a big house close to our high school, on the West Coast. Max was going to college, at UCSC, a university in Santa Cruz. Fang was going to go to college after Max finished, so the flock could always have two older members on hand and in or near our house if something bad was to happen. Iggy had no intentions of going to college, but Max was planning to force him into a college for the blind after Fang was done with his schooling. Total and Akila still lived with us, and were an adorable little couple. Akila was actually expecting puppies really soon, like in a week or less, which was both a little gross and really cute. I couldn't wait to see if their puppies had wings, or could talk! As I walked into the kitchen, I noticed Iggy fiddling with copper wire, a mysterious blue liquid in a beaker, Play-Doh, and a couple batteries. I was immediately alarmed. "Iggy! What are you doing?" I scolded, slinging my backpack off my shoulder and onto one of the chairs. He jumped, then scrabbled around with his sensitive fingers to make sure he hadn't dropped anything. He turned his blind eyes towards me, a pout across his face.

"Angel! You almost made me drop the Chemical X!" he complained. I paled.

"What the fnick is that Chemical X stuff?" I asked him, half not wanting to know the answer. Iggy grinned secretively, and my confidence dropped into my stomach. Had he managed to steal some more of those government chemicals? He had promised the FBI he wouldn't do it again!

"I don't know what the Chemical X is," he confided happily. "That's why I'm being so careful with it!" He gestured widely with his hands, knocking the beaker off-balance for one scary moment, before catching the Chemical X and placing it steadily on the table again. I pointedly refrained from asking where he obtained this Chemical X, and snorted, moving to the fridge to grab some orange juice.

"Oh yeah, you're being really careful Iggy," I teased, opening the fridge door. Dang it, I had forgotten that Gazzy had chugged the last of the OJ this morning. I grabbed a peach instead, biting into it before closing the door again. "Just don't let Max see your Chemical X," I warned him. "Remember her reaction to your experiments with Tide?" Iggy grinned, and I shuddered as I remembered the police investigating the house because Iggy had blown up the laundry soap. They were used to his pyromaniacal ways, as was the fire department. The poor firefighters had finally given us a license for keeping three fire extinguishers at home, after they'd been called over to put out Iggy's and Gazzy's experiments six times in our first month living in this house.

Iggy fiddled some more with his Chemical X, making a bowl out of the Play-Doh. He stuck the copper wire through the sides so it was exposed in the depression of the bowl, and tied the ends of the wire around a battery each. Iggy lifted the beaker of Chemical X off of its stand, and I quickly got up out of the chair I was sitting in. "I think I'm going to leave now," I said hastily, throwing my peach pit into the compost bin. Iggy pouted.

"But then no one will be around to see my explosion!" he complained. I shook my finger at him mockingly.

"If you know that the Chemical X is going to explode when you pour it in your cute little Play-Doh bowl, then why are you doing it in your precious kitchen?" I demanded. Iggy thought for a moment, then picked up his bowl in one hand and the Chemical X beaker in the other.

"You're right Ange. I won't do it in the kitchen again," Iggy promised. I sighed audibly in relief. "I'll do it in the Johnson's front yard!" he plotted gleefully, running out the doorway and through the hall.

"Iggy!" I shouted after him. He just cackled in response, and I heard the front door whip open and slam shut again. I was about to give chase to our resident bomb-maker when someone put their hand on my shoulder. I freaked out and almost punched Fang in the face as I whirled to face him. He grabbed my fist mid-punch Ninja-Fang style, and put it back at my side, smiling his little Fang-smile at me. "I'm sorry Fang. I didn't realize it was you," I explained. "I thought someone snuck into the house again." He grimaced at the memory of our fans finding out where we lived in New Jersey a month ago before giving me a shoulder-hug. Fang had become a little more open with his feelings nowadays, but he still wasn't very emotional. It would have been too weird if he was.

"I came to your school today," he said simply in his dark, deep voice that made all of his fan girls, or as the flock called them, Fang Girls (and sometimes Max), scream for mercy. I smiled at him, before going to get myself another peach. It had been so dang good!

"Oh?" I asked casually. "Do you want a peach, Fang?" He held his hand out, and I tossed him one over my shoulder. It hit his hand with a soft thunk, and I grinned. I'm always right on target. I grabbed another peach for myself, then turned to face Fang again. He still held his peach, but hadn't taken a bite yet.

"I went to the library to return Gazzy's book, around lunchtime," he told me, his dark eyes locked on mine. I flushed slightly, wondering if he had seen me with Tommy…

_I saw you with that boy, Ange. Who is he? _Fang thought at me. I smiled at him thankfully for not continuing our conversation aloud, where someone (namely my brother or Iggy) could overhear it.

_He's just this guy at school, Tommy. He's the star on the swim team, and a really nice guy, _I told Fang. _ You don't have to worry about him, Fang. I'll be alright._

_It's not me that I'm thinking will worry,_ he replied. _I'm confident that you can choose a nice boy by now. You are in ninth grade. The thing is, I think Max won't be thrilled that you're going out with a guy._

I flushed again. _Who said I was going out with him?_ I demanded.

_After your little exchange in the library, I hope you will be soon,_ Fang countered. "I'm going to go retrieve Iggy before he wreaks his revenge on the Johnsons," Fang said aloud. I giggled, remembering Iggy's and our next-door neighbor Mrs. Johnson's heated battle on Gazzy and Iggy testing their experiments in our yard. I guess she never imagined that after that, he would test his experiments in _her _yard.

"That's a good idea," I agreed. "I'm going to start on my homework." Fang nodded, then turned to leave. "Umm, Fang?" I asked him. Fang turned to face me again. "Can you not tell Max about you-know-what yet? I want to tell her myself." Fang stared at me incredulously.

"Ange, how could you ever think that _I _would tell Max something that I know she would be miffed about? I'm not ready to risk my life over a little thing like this," he told me seriously, with just a flicker of fun hidden way back in his eyes. "Now I should really go get Iggy." Fang left the kitchen, and I heard the front door open again. Instead of closing behind him though, I heard Nudge and Gazzy come through the door laughing quietly about something. They entered the kitchen together, Gaz with his arm around Nudge's shoulder. I wondered to myself if there was maybe something going on between them, then dismissed the urge to read their minds and find out if my suspicions were correct. I tried not to read the flock's thoughts anymore, not even Total's, unless I was forced to find out if they were hiding something really important. I didn't have this scrupulous rule about people _outside _the flock though, and exercised my mind-reading freely at school and at other public places. It was interesting to learn something about the people I passed on the street, to feel like I knew them.

"Hi Angel ZOMG I really need to tell you something I heard at soccer practice!" she squealed, slipping easily out of Gazzy's hold. He grinned at her antics, and smiled again at me.

"Hi Ange," he greeted me simply. I ran over and hugged my brother, like it hadn't been two hours since I'd last seen him, but actually was the first meeting in years. I'm always affectionate to my flock. They are my family, after all. I turned to Nudge again, who was rifling through the fridge for food. She grabbed out a couple of peaches, and tossed one to Gaz, who deftly caught it and started eating. Everyone in the flock was eating a lot of peaches today.

"So you know how Gazzy and I were at our soccer practices?" she asked me. I nodded, sitting down at the table and pulling my algebra book out of my backpack. "So the girls' team was doing this one awesome drill where there are three teams of three, and two teams play a short scrimmage while the third team rests, and when one team scores, the losers come off and the resting team comes on and plays the winners. So while my team was resting I was talking to Veronica and Lizzie, who were on my team. You know how they're both freshmen and neither are spectacular players so I get paired with them a lot because I'm so good, well I was talking to them when Veronica said that Tommy Baker was telling people off for laughing about what that stupid announcement that the Kyle dude made about you really meant, and she said he's really cute and smart and funny and I thought I should let you know so that you could thank him and maybe you could get to be friends with him!" Nudge finished her rant jumping up and down with excitement. I felt my heart speed up a little at the mention of Tommy's name, and it raced even faster when Nudge mentioned him standing up for me. I skillfully masked my face of all embarrassing emotions, and instead pasted on a curious expression.

"That's really nice of him," I remarked quietly. "I actually talked to him in the library today. He didn't mention anything about that." Nudge smiled even wider.

"OOH! So he must be a cute and smart and funny and modest guy!" she squealed. "He's a freshman though, so I'm not interested," Nudge added with the superior air that only juniors in high school can manage. I smiled slightly again. Gazzy shrugged off his backpack and sat down in the chair next to me, pulling out his history textbook.

"I'm so tired," he announced, plopping the textbook down on the wooden table with a loud thunk. "Coach Dun made us run wind sprints for half of practice today, then we practiced intense, full-contact one on ones." Gazzy sighed, but even though he was acting tired, I could tell he was still full of energy. The front door opened yet again, and I could hear Iggy complaining to Fang about his experiment. Fang frog-marched him into the kitchen, and when Gaz's eyes landed on the Chemical X, he jumped out of his chair, history homework forgotten. "What's that Iggy?" he asked excitedly. "Is it explosive? I thought you promised the FBI you wouldn't steal government chemicals again!" Iggy grinned mischievously at him, his blind eyes dancing with pale blue fire.

"That's hush-hush information, Gasman," he informed him, glancing around at Nudge, Fang and I. "I'll tell you later, when we're alone."

"Eww…" I complained, looking down at my algebra homework again. "Remember Igs, I have to listen to a LOT of perverted thoughts, and now I see perverted-ness in absolutely everything." Nudge, Gaz, Fang and Iggy thought for a moment, then groaned.

"Angel, your mind is so poisoned I can't even put it into words," Fang told me, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his forehead.

"Fang can't put anything into words," Iggy interjected, moving to get dinner ready. Fang punched him. "Ow!" Iggy complained half-heartedly. Everyone knew he was used to getting punched for his annoying comments. Gazzy brightened.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Angel punched a guy in the face today," Gazzy reported happily before going back to his history homework. Nudge, who was bent over her English paper, sat up and grinned.

"ZOMG that was so funny! He made a stupid announcement and embarrassed Angel, so she found him at lunch and punched him in the face it was hilarious!" Nudge recounted, a dreamy smile on her face as she remembered the event. I made a face.

"He was an idiot, and a jerk. He deserved to be hit somewhere lower, but I didn't want to dirty my new sneakers." I stuck out my foot from under the table to show my new brown shoes with little gold flecks and white laces. "They're so comfortable!"

"That's pretty cool An-," Fang halted suddenly. I looked up to see him staring out the kitchen window at the driveway. Nudge got up and looked out the window too, before starting to squeal so loudly that I'm sure people heard her on K2.

"ZOMG MAX LOOKS SO PRETTY I WONDER WHO DID HER HAIR AND MAKEUP WHY IS SHE DRESSED SO PRETTY SHE WASN'T LIKE THAT THIS MORNING!" Nudge shrieked, before running out to greet Max. Fang looked gobsmacked. He just stood at the window and stared, his mouth slightly open. Gazzy and I glanced at each other, shrugged, and continued with our homework. Max would come in soon enough, escorted by Nudge. Accordingly, a minute later, after Fang had mutely walked over and dropped into a chair, his mouth still open and his eyes wide, Max and Nudge entered the kitchen.

She was drop-dead gorgeous.

I dropped my pencil with a clack, and it rolled off the table onto the floor. Gazzy's pen met a similar fate, while we gazed at Max. She flushed under the attention we were giving her. Max was clad in a sleek silver tunic that hugged her slim figure and criss-crossed in straps two fingers thick over her back, with black leggings underneath tucked into dark, knee-high leather boots with no heel. Six or seven thin, bright silver bangles decorated her left wrist, and a silver strand of wire decorated with a single, white-jewel studded silver star hung around her neck. Max's usually unruly hair was straightened into a glossy sheet, with a section right above each ear pulled back into a muted gray clip. Her beautiful brown eyes were delicately outlined in a smoky gray, but besides that and a skillful smattering of light rose-colored blush with clear lip gloss, she wore no make up. We stared at her in silence as her cheeks colored more and more before Iggy finally grunted impatiently. "Excuse me, but I've been waiting for awhile for someone to tell me what Max looks like!" he complained. Fang gulped.

"She- she-" his voice was soft and hoarse as he gazed at Max. It was obvious he would never be able to describe her, and I doubted anyone else would be able to either, so I was considerate enough to send him a mental image of Max's beautified state. He gasped and fell backward into a chair. I rushed over to find that Iggy had fainted dead away, and started giggling uncontrollably. Max scowled when she realized what had happened, and put her hands on her hips, which made her look more like her old fourteen-year-old self than her gorgeous nineteen-year-old self.

"Do I really look that bad?" Her voice, rough, tough, commanding and oh-so familiar, snapped us all out of our beautiful-Max induced trances and back into our normal selves.

"ZOMG no Max you look Ah-May-Zing!" Nudge insisted, running all around the kitchen in an attempt to control her excitement. "You look so great it's just incredible the thing that surprised Iggy is that you look so different from your normal self! I mean seriously, when was the last time you dressed up like this?" Nudge demanded. Max thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care," she told Nudge, walking over and sitting next to Fang. Max pushed his jaw up so his mouth wasn't hanging open anymore, and grinned at him teasingly. "If you leave your mouth open like that, you'll start catching flies, Fang," she joked. He just stared at her, and she shifted uneasily. "Umm, Fang? Earth to Fnick!" Max waved her hands in front of his face, and he snapped out of his trance.

"Max," he managed to say. Max looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"Please warn me before you go more beautiful than you already are again. I almost died just now," he told her, before leaning forward and kissing her on the lips. I just stared at them, and Nudge jumped up and down in silent excitement, while Gazzy shook his head and started to doctor Iggy out of his unconscious state.

My life is so messed up sometimes, and my older siblings were nuts. Two were making out in front of all of us, one was unconscious because another had a makeover, making another have to abandon his history homework and revive him, and the last is just about having a seizure in her excitement. I'm the only normal one here. I bent my head, ignoring Max and Fang sucking faces across the table, and continued with my algebra homework. I'm sure my teacher would be very proud of me.

**So that's a little of their family life. I just wrote this chapter to appease you guys, and it turned out to be pretty fun. It came really easily to me, at least. Wingz Fr Life, if you're reading this, please learn to spell. Thank you! XD**

**Angel: I love it when you write about me!**

**Nudge: Wait a sec, I'm in love with Gazzy in this one?**

**Gazzy: EWW NUDGE HAS COOTIES THOUGH!**

**Nudge; DO NOT!**

**OH YEAH! That reminds me. Does anyone want some Gudge in here too? I'm on a roll with the romance factors right now. Angel/OC, OC/OC, FAX, it'd be easy to bring some Gudge into the picture! Plus, I love Gudge!**

**Gazzy: Mother help us all...**

**~TMI~**


	3. MEGA CHAPTER!

**I just realized I forgot to thank my readers for chapter one! So for chappie numero uno, I'd like to thank Warriorsqueen, 'Luv-Rain', Smarticle866, The Seagull, Dark Skitty Power, Bella and Jacob fan 423, StarsLeanDownToKissYou, Claire Ride, Iwashere, and Angel Ride! **

**Angel: … I reviewed?**

**Maybe it's you in a different dimension!**

**Angel: very true… Now, write more about me!**

**Yeah, I will in a sec. But first, I'm replying back to Dark Skitty Power. YO SKITS! I'm so glad you care about my feelings towards this story, you selfish little awesome person! XD AND ALSO! VERY IMPORTANT! I know that I randomly dressed up Max and gave no explanation for it. The thing is, I have a plan hatching in my mind, but I'm not completely sure about it. Does anyone have a brilliant plot-bunny for it? If so, please tell me! =D AND MY LAST COMMENT IS: I don't care if you call it Gudge or Nazzy, but I'm putting in some Nudge/Gazzy. I just think they're really cute, and if anyone tries to complain about age difference, they'll notice that in previous chapters I had tweaked the whole flock's ages. Ooh, I am THAT suave…**

**Angel's POV**

I hurried down the hallway at lunchtime, hugging my gray cross country sweatshirt around me and wondering what Tommy could possibly have to say that was so important. He had left a note slid inside my locker telling me to meet him behind the library at lunch, he had something special to tell me. I adjusted my grip on my lunchbox, wishing that Iggy had given me a paper bag instead of this bulky metal cube. People walked by me, the girls traveling in groups of two to eight, the guys walking solo or with one other guy. Some of them nodded to me as we passed, and I smiled back. My sneakers made no noise but for a soft pat on the cement, and my loose running shorts swished quietly as my legs moved. There wasn't anyone around now, just me and the library. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I could just feel there was something wrong with this picture. Why did Tommy want to meet in this out-of-the-way place, where no one else was around?

My question was answered as I turned the corner and came to the back of the library. Tommy hadn't wanted to meet me. Instead I was faced with the gang of over-muscled, under-brained jocks that hung around with Kyle. They grinned as they cracked their knuckles, and my brain went into autopilot. I was about to either knock them all out or fly away, when I remembered that I was in school. So instead of exhibiting the fact that I was one of the Flock, I tried to contort my face into a scared expression, and turned as if to walk away. As I expected, Kyle was standing behind me, blocking the only other exit. My predicament could have easily been part of a movie-mugging scene. Six bulky teens blocking one exit, another bulky teen blocking the other, a brick wall to my right and a chained fence standing eight feet high to my left. I glared at Kyle, hoping he wouldn't see through my façade to the humor hidden in my eyes. This was just too funny. I punch a guy in the face for embarrassing me, and they try to beat me up for it, when I could have easily been walking away from the sight of them all knocked out in a heap on the ground at this very second. "Hi, umm, K- Kyle," I stammered, mentally congratulating myself on my acting abilities. I should go pro with Gazzy, we could be rich! At least, richer than we already are. Our existence itself made us rich, as soon as we were revealed to the world at large.

_Oh, so she's acting all sweet and innocent. Damn wrong she is. That woman has no right to act that way to me. _Kyle's thoughts were very profane, and some were just plain disgusting. "Hello Avari , dear," He purred at me, stepping forward to finger a strand of my hair. I recoiled at his attitude, and backed myself up against a wall so there would be no chance of him or one of his cronies accidentally finding my wings. "As you know, I'm not feeling too well after our little… argument," Kyle continued. He turned his head so that I could see a bruise that was forming on the exact spot where my fist had landed. I giggled slightly, and as if on cue all of the cronies glared at me. I smiled sweetly back at them before turning my head to Kyle again.

"Everyone at this school gets hurt too easily," I explained sadly to him. "It gets so annoying!" Kyle quirked an eyebrow, as if trying to process my comment with his miniscule brain. "Well, as much as I _adore _discussing this with you," I layered the word 'adore' with huge amounts of sarcasm. "I'm going to leave now." Kyle grinned menacingly as he advanced on me, his cronies doing likewise.

"Oh no, you aren't going anywhere yet, Avari," Kyle threatened. "Not unless you'll be my girlfriend and go with me to my beach party." I stared at him for a second, before bursting out laughing. He stared at me, not comprehending.

"Are you- serious?" I gasped out between laughs. "That's- insane! Why would I want to go out with a scum-bag like you?" I straightened up again, brushing the slight curls framing my forehead out of my eyes. I faced the chain-link fence, as if it would give me answers. "They're being ridiculous," I confided to the fence. "After all, I already have a date for the beach party."

My last statement made its slow way through Kyle's mind. "What?" he roared, and the cronies jumped back. I simply stood with my back to the brick wall and smiled as he vented his anger. "Who asked you? You're going with me!" I shook my head, and spoke slowly, enunciating carefully so to get my message across.

"No Kyle, I am not going to your beach party with you. In fact, I am never going _anywhere _with you, because you're just a wad of muscle wrapped around a little dirt ball that you call your brain," I explained, smiling understandingly the entire time. I walked away from the wall, and made as if to go around Kyle's left. His arm shot out to stop me, but I wasn't there. While he was trying to grab the air at his left, I had quickly darted to his right. Stepping carefully down the hallway, I figured that I had about three seconds before they came after me again. Turning to face them again, I called out to Kyle. "Oh yeah, and stay away from me, or you'll get a matching bruise on your other cheek. The same goes for your minions." I whirled back around and turned the corner.

"AVARI!" Kyle yelled. I poked my head back around the corner, smiling demurely.

"You rang, oh idiot?" I asked. Kyle's minions stopped to think this through, but Kyle waved my comment away, apparently trying to get a point across to me.

"Who are you going with, then?" he finally asked pathetically. I smiled wider at the thought of Tommy escorting me to Kyle's party, and was about to answer when I felt a presence behind me.

"I am," Tommy told him simply, before grasping my shoulder with one hand and guiding me away from the library. I felt little bubbles of giddiness rise up in my chest, but tried to ignore them. He walked me silently across the campus, apparently deep in thought. I let the silence be, and instead luxuriated in the warmth of his hand on my shoulder. Strangely, I didn't feel tempted to read Tommy's thoughts. The idea of reading his mind didn't even occur to me until Tommy spoke again. "What exactly happened?" he asked, his voice quiet and calm. I relaxed immediately at the sound, and had to check to make sure that my wings were pulled in tightly as I explained about getting the note.

"I'd never seen your handwriting before, so when I got that note, I just assumed that it was from you. It was signed from you, at least, and I had no reason to think otherwise until I got to the library," I explained. Tommy just looked at me, and I felt a little frustrated. "What?" I demanded. His face broke out in a grin.

"Why would I ask you to come behind the library?" he asked, smiling wickedly. I flushed, and poked him hard in the chest.

"I don't know, why would you?" I blustered, trying to shrug off his hand and walk away. Boys always managed to embarrass me these days! His grip tightened on my shoulder, and he spun me back around so I was facing him again. No wicked grin was on his face. Instead, there was a gentle look to his tanned features, and deep in his eyes there was a hint of hesitation. I looked up an inch to glare defiantly in his deep blue eyes. "What do you want?" I asked, trying to sound angry, and failing miserably.

"To do this," he told me softly, keeping one hand on my shoulder and using the other to lift my chin slightly. A shiver went down my spine before Tommy's lips met mine, sending a wave of warmth all the way through me. The only thoughts in my mind were concerning the facts that I was glad he wasn't holding my back, and wouldn't be able to feel my wings, and the fact that I was in perfect bliss. He broke away, and I put a hand to my lips, feeling them tingle as if they were excited by this new use. I had never kissed someone on the lips before, although Max and Fang definitely had, Iggy had kissed his girlfriend Maya lots of times, and I was positive that Nudge and Gazzy had a history that included at least one. Tommy looked at me expectantly, and I giggled, slightly giddy from his kiss.

"That was… nice," I struggled to say, blushing as I turned my gaze to the ground. Tommy pouted playfully at me, tilting my chin up to look in his eyes again. I felt a small smile tugging at my lips at the sight.

"Nice? That's all?" he asked sadly, although his eyes laughing. "I'm disappointed." Tommy turned as if to walk away, and I resisted the urge to slap him for acting so cute. Instead, I grabbed his shoulders and turned him back around to face me. Without a word, I kissed him straight on the lips, feeling electricity shoot through me as we connected. I could feel his mouth turning up in a smile as his hands gravitated towards my waist. My eyes shut, and I reveled in the warmth that was flowing through me. When we broke apart, breathing slightly harder than usual, he grinned at me again. "That was more than nice," Tommy informed me, straightening up again. I grinned giddily; this guy was just too much.

"Yes," I agreed. "Much more than nice." We smiled as we looked at each other, our faces just a few inches apart. Suddenly, an announcement blared over the loudspeakers and we jumped away from each other.

"Monique Ride, please come to the office. Monique Ride, please come to the office immediately." I looked at Tommy, my mind flashing through several reasons why Nudge could have gotten sent to the office. Had she beaten someone up for insulting her shoes again? I thought she had learned her lesson! Tommy smiled gently, fingering a strand of hair. It was a total déjà vu moment, because that's what Kyle had done just a few minutes ago. However, when it was Tommy next to me, I didn't care…

"You should probably go see what your sister did," he suggested quietly, looking as if he didn't really want me to go. I was touched, and smiled back at him before taking his fingers and gently removing them from my hair.

"Yeah, I probably should. Thanks though, Tommy, for everything." I wondered if I should say more. Heck, I was wondering if our little… social interaction… had changed anything. Were we dating now? I had no idea. Tommy grinned in his cute little way, before walking away towards the quad. He probably wanted to eat his lunch. Lucky him. Instead of eating my delicious, Iggy-has-made-me-yet-another-amazing-lunch food, I had to go see what Nudge had gotten herself into this time. I walked towards the office, the slight breeze toying with my hair, reminding me of Tommy's finger running through it. I grinned at the thought.

When I neared the office, I spotted Nudge about to open the door. "Nu- Monique!" I called to her, breaking into a run for the last twenty feet. Nudge paused, her hand above the doorknob, and turned to look at me. When she saw that I was running towards her, she blushed heavily, which made me instantly suspicious. "Monique, what did do? You know that Max- Maxine will get mad if she hears you got sent to the office again," I reminded her. Nudge blushed harder, avoiding my eyes. "Monique, what happened?" I demanded. "You know I'll find out if you don't tell me outright."

She looked up in resignation as she remembered my special little talent. "Fine," she said heavily, her mouth suddenly quirked up in a little grin. "Mr. Bast caught me in the hallway, kissing-" Before Nudge could finish her sentence, the door to the office opened, revealing Mr. Bast himself. The principal was frowning, and didn't look pleased to see either of us.

"Miss Ride and Miss Ride." His words were blank, with no emotion. "Miss Monique, come with me. Miss Avari, go back to your lunch," he ordered. Nudge frowned, her head cocked to the side as she stared at Mr. Bast's tie. I looked at her quizzically, and she caught my gaze.

_Ange, he wasn't wearing a tie before,_ Nudge told me, her mind-voice sounding confused.

_That's strange. I wonder why he put one on now,_ I replied, my suspicious, Mini-Max side rising inside me.

_I know._ Nudge's mind-voice now sounded troubled. The principal looked at us suspiciously, before motioning for Nudge to follow him into the office. She looked at me again before following the man. I watched as the door closed behind her, hoping that nothing would be wrong. I didn't want to have to leave before I got to go to the beach party with Kyle. Turning around, I walked away from the office. Maybe I could find Gazzy, and he would tell me who Nudge had been kissing . I was _dying _to know.

I broke into a fast jog, heading towards the quad, where I knew Gazzy would be. As soon as I entered the loud area, I saw Tommy sitting at a table with his friends from the swim team. His chlorine-bleached, shiny blonde hair was gleaming in the sun, and he smiled when he caught my eye. I grinned back, noticing one of his friends nudge him before I turned to look for Gazzy. He was sitting at our normal table, along with Fiona, Jake, Dale and Trish. Gazzy was laughing nervously at something that Dale had said, and Fiona and Trish looked mildly horrified. "Hey guys, whassup?" I asked, plopping down next to my brother. Gazzy looked alarmed, and everyone else at the table seemed to be holding their breath. "Guys? What's wrong?" I questioned, wondering what they seemed so secretive about.

"Hi An- Avari. Nothing's wrong, just that Monique and I had a little run-in with Mr. Bast," Gazzy confessed. I frowned, remembering what Nudge had said about getting sent to the office.

_Mr. Bast caught me in the hallway, kissing-_ She had never gotten to finish her sentence, but now I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who Nudge had been with. "Zephyr, come with me," I ordered, getting up and stalking away from the table. At this rate, I would never get to eat my lunch. I heard Gazzy whispering with Dale and Jake, and Fiona scolding him. "Zeph! Now!" Gazzy unwillingly stood up and followed me over to a quieter part of the quad, where no one could hear us talking. "Gazzy, why did you kiss Nudge _in the middle of the school day in a place where everyone thinks you're siblings?_" I growled at him. He didn't meet my eyes, instead studying his knuckles intently.

"She just looked so pretty today," he finally answered quietly after awhile. "I couldn't help it. Nudge is Nudge, after all." My heart softened a little. So I _had _been right about Nudge and Gazzy dating! I wondered what Max would think about this. "You won't tell Max, will you Ange?" Gazzy asked, looking up into my eyes with a sudden look of urgency written across his face. "She'll kill me!" I grinned at my brother teasingly, motioning for him to follow me as I set off towards the office.

"Of course I won't, Gaz. I wouldn't _dream _of it!" I exclaimed. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything as I led him across the quad. "What did you tell Fiona, Jake, Dale and Trish about it, anyway?" I asked, wondering how he had thought of an excuse for kissing his 'sister'. Gazzy looked nervously around him.

"I said that it wasn't me, probably just Nudge's boyfriend." I looked at Gazzy, to find his eyes dancing with mischief.

"But aren't _you _her boyfriend?" I clarified. He nodded impishly, and I grinned. "Then technically, you didn't lie to them!" Gazzy nodded again, and I felt proud of my brother. He didn't want to lie to his friends, so he just made up something that was actually partial truth.

Gazzy and I had made it to the office, and we stood in front of the door. I wondered whether we should go in or not. Apparently Gazzy was thinking the same thing, because a minute later, he voiced his thoughts out loud. "Should we go try to find N-Monique?" he asked me, switching to Nudge's alias before he accidently let something slip. I was glad he did so; when we were standing right next to the school office, it was best to take precautions on how we spoke. Only three people at this school besides Gazzy, Nudge and I knew that we weren't normal kids, and we intended it to stay that way.

"I think we should at least go in," I decided. Gazzy agreed, and we stepped inside the air-conditioned room. It was plain and pretty bare, with six navy chairs lined up against the wall with the door, and a small wooden table stacked with old yearbooks on top of it. The carpet was gray, and so was the atmosphere of the room. Ms Undergrives, the school secretary, was sitting at her desk, tapping away listlessly on her computer. As we entered, Ms Undergrives looked up at us, her brown eyes placid.

"Hello Avari, hello Zephyr," she greeted us. I smiled. The one thing I liked about the secretary was how she always knew every student's name. "I suppose you're here to see your sister?" she guessed. We nodded, and she shot a hard glance at Gazzy for a moment before getting up from her chair and disappearing down the hall to the principal's office. I stifled a laugh; apparently Ms Undergrives knew that Gazzy had been caught kissing his 'sister' too, and obviously didn't like the idea. Who could blame her? I knew that Nudge and Gazzy weren't real siblings, and I was still slightly creeped out by the idea of them kissing in a hallway during the middle of lunch-

I'm going to stop thinking about that now.

Presently, Ms Undergrives came back, this time leading Nudge and Mr. Bast. "Avari and Zephyr, here is Monique. She can leave now. Zephyr, don't go near the girl!" Mr. Bast ordered. Gazzy grinned, giving a little salute to the principal.

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir!" he announced, before turning and exiting the office. Ms Undergrives shook her head before turning to go back to work at her computer. As soon as she sat down, Nudge followed Gazzy out of the office. I tried to leave also, but when I tried the doorknob, it was locked.

That was strange.

I jiggled the doorknob again, trying to see if it was stuck or something. Nudge and Gazzy had been able to leave easily, why couldn't I? On my third attempt to open the door, I heard Mr. Bast laughing quietly behind me. I turned around, annoyed. He could see that I was having trouble, so was he just going to stand there and laugh at me? What a nice principal! "Mr. Bast, can you please help me open the door?" I asked sweetly. "It seems to be stuck."

"No," he told me simply, just standing there, smiling evilly. Wait, he was smiling evilly? Hold on a second… "No, Angel, I can't let you leave."

My brain froze for a second. All I could think was how Mr. Bast wasn't supposed to say my real name right in front of Ms Undergrives like that! I glanced at the secretary, and was immediately freaked out when I saw that she was frozen in place, her fingers poised above the keyboard as she stared at the screen of her computer. "Mr. Bast, I think something's wrong with Ms Undergrives," I tried to tell him. Mr. Bast just stood and grinned at me, his expression sinister.

When you start using words like 'evilly' and 'sinister' to describe your principal, you know that something is wrong.

"Mr. Bast-" I started, but the principal interrupted me.

"Angel, Angel, Angel. Haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were supposed to be the clever one." Mr. Bast shook his head slowly. "Apparently not. I am not who you call 'Mr. Bast'. That puny human was removed about half an hour ago." My brain thawed out, and I tried to figure out what he meant. This person wasn't Mr. Bast? And he had called the principal a puny _human, w_hich implied that this person wasn't one. I immediately leaped into a fighting stance, straining my senses to hear his thoughts. There was nothing. Either this imposter didn't have thoughts, or he had a way to protect himself from my powers. He laughed as I came to this conclusion. "I have thoughts Angel, you just can't hear them," he informed me with another evil grin. "And soon you won't be able to hear anyone's. And when you aren't here, Maximum will be so upset that she's bound to let her guard down enough for us to get the rest of your precious little flock," he concluded, rubbing his hands together. I sighed. This guy acted like he had learned to be evil from cheap cartoons.

"You're wrong. If I -die- then Max will be more on her guard then ever!" I spat at him, my eyes still searching for a way to defeat him so I could leave.

"Au contraire, my little defiant experiment. Maximum will be distraught to see that the youngest of her flock is dead. That is the fault of our greatest experiment. She has too many emotions; love for her flock, a sense of duty for the weaker, and adoration for that utter failure of an experiment, the one you call Fang." The imposter's lip curled in disgust. "She has too many setbacks. Your flock must be destroyed so we can retry our attempts at the savior of the apocalypse." I just stared at him. This guy was either psycho, or brain-washed. Actually, he was probably both.

"That won't work. Max isn't a failure, and neither is Fang. None of the flock are failures!" I yelled at him, my voice rising in volume with each word. How dare he insult my family like that! The imposter frowned again.

"See what I mean? You care too much for the others! Every one of you needs a sense of self-preservation. Instead, you try to keep others alive. That is not your purpose! You need to be able to keep yourselves alive in order to save the whole world!" The imposter shouted, his anger coming off of him in almost tangible puffs of emotion.

Finally, after so much searching, I found an opening. Now I just needed to keep him distracted. "Look who has too much emotion now!" I taunted him. The imposter stiffened, his eyes blazing.

"I am not a faulty experiment! I was created to be better than all of your silly flock combined! I am Yion!" he yelled. I stopped, wondering why he had told me his name. Apparently, he was thinking the same thing, because he seemed angrier than ever. "You foolish experiment! Now I have to destroy you even more!" he roared, lunging for me. I sidestepped his attack, pushing him towards the wall as he ran past me. With my extra help, Yion rammed his head straight through the wall. I heard the plaster crash into pieces on the other side, and winced. That must have hurt.

Unfortunately for me, it didn't hurt enough. The Mr. Bast imposter wrenched his head out of the wall and glared at me murderously. I glanced at Ms Undergrives. She was still frozen over her keyboard, completely unaware of the battle going on in front of her. Yion saw where I was looking, and laughed harshly. "She can't help you, Angel. All she can do is sit and stare at her computer screen. When she is mobile again, it will be too late for you!"With that cheery statement, the Yion lunged for me again. I blocked his punch, then recoiled. Crap! I stared at my wrists where his fist had landed. It was already pounding with pain, and was a nasty shade of pinkish white standing out on my tanned skin.

I didn't have long to gaze at my injury though, because Yion was back on me like lightning. I heard the doorknob jiggle, and shouting from outside that sounded like Nudge and Gazzy. Of course! They would be worrying since I hadn't come out of the office after them, not to mention 'Mr. Bast's' head crashing through the wall. I focused on my fight with Yion, tuning out all other noises. He kicked, I ducked, he punched, I blocked. Soon though, the tide was turned. He was fast, but he was also heavier than I was, in his guise of forty-year-old Mr. Bast. Yion tired quickly, and I took the opportunity to taunt him some more. "What happened to being created better than my flock?" I asked sweetly, dodging a weakly- aimed punch. "You can't even beat a freshman girl!"

Yion roared again, snapping out his leg to kick me. I grabbed his ankle with both hands and pulled up, making his other foot fly off the ground. Yion landed on his back with a huge sound. If anyone hadn't heard us before, they would've now. Yion leaped off the floor, and we circled each other, tensed to move if the other did. "I'm ready when you are, old man," I told him softly. Yion yelled in indignity, lunging for me one more time. I was ready for his actions though, and snapped out my leg as hard as I could. When my foot connected with his chest, I yelped, but his roar of pain was louder than mine. It felt like I had just kicked a steel wall! I wondered how _this _experiment had been designed.

Yion stumbled back, falling on the carpet with a whimper. I sprinted forward, quickly holding his head steady with my left hand and smashing my right fist into his temple. He immediately was knocked out. Now that my opponent was KOed, I fell into a chair, gasping for air. Gradually I realized that there was pounding on the door. I staggered to my feet and tried the doorknob again, but it was still locked. Great. How would I get out now?

I sat back in the chair to think, tuning out the pounding on the door again. How would I explain the unconscious 'principal' on the carpet? Speaking of which…

I knelt down next to Yion's body, sifting through his coat pockets. Eventually, I pulled out a small device that looked like a touch-screen phone. I guessed that this was what he had used to control the doorknob, since there was no other reason it should be locked. Supposedly he had let Nudge and Gazzy leave peacefully so he would only have to contend with me, then locked the door before I could go. When I tapped the screen, it lit up with two options. **LOCK **and **UNLOCK** filled the entire screen in two sections. I was about to tap **UNLOCK** when I saw my reflection in the screen, and paused. I didn't want people to be asking me about what had happened; that would just be way too complicated. Instead, I remembered a power of mine, one that I had gotten when we visited Antarctica so many years ago. Grinning, I watched my reflection in the screen of the device change from Angel Ride into the face of a girl I had never seen before. Perfect. I quickly tapped **UNLOCK**, and a faint click could be heard in from the vicinity of the doorknob. Abruptly, the handle turned and six people, including Nudge and Gazzy, piled into the room. Apparently they had been leaning on the door when it unlocked. I forced the grin that was dying to form on my face into a scared expression, and stared wide-eyed at the new people. "It was so scary!" I exclaimed in a high voice that I didn't recognize. "Please help me!"

"What's going on? What are you doing here, Linda?" A voice came from behind the office desk as Ms Undergrives peered at me. I sighed in relief; she was okay now. Maybe the device had controlled what had happened to her too.

"I don't know, Ms Undergrives!" Apparently I had taken on the image of a girl named Linda. At least now it wasn't as suspicious. If Ms Undergrives hadn't recognized me, then my attempt to be unconnected to this little event wouldn't have worked. "What is that?" I squealed shrilly, pointing at Yion. Now that he was knocked out, his façade as Mr. Bast had faded, leaving a beat up M-Geek in his place. Gazzy's eyes widened at the sight of Yion, and Nudge gasped. I suppressed a smile, and instead took off running out of the room. _NUDGE! GAZZY! FOLLOW LINDA!_ I ordered them in my mind. The two straightened suddenly, hearing my message, and followed me out of the office.

"Linda! Wait up!" Nudge called after me. I took a look behind me and saw them. As soon as we were out of earshot of the office, I stopped running. Gazzy and Nudge jogged up to me, feigning hard breathing so not to make 'Linda' suspicious of them. "Wow girl, you run fast!" Nudge complimented me. I smiled at her.

"Thanks Nudge." She stiffened at her real name, and stared at me. "Don't worry, it's me, Angel," I told her. "I used my shape-shifting power to turn into Linda so I wouldn't get tangled up in that mess," I explained. Gazzy stared at me with a hard expression in his eyes.

"Prove it then," he demanded. "I've already been fooled once today by a disguise, and I won't be again." I nodded. That was what I had expected him to say. I closed my eyes and imagined becoming Angel Ride again. When I opened them again, Nudge looked convinced, but Gazzy still had his doubts. _Gaz, would I be able to do this if I was an imposter? _I asked him through my mind. As further proof, I sent him a few mind-pictures of times when we were younger, like when he had blown up Fang's favorite sweatshirt with a bag of peanuts and window-cleaner. He grinned at the memory. "That was so funny," he said dreamily, remembering the events of that day.

"Now do you believe that I'm me?" I asked. Nudge and Gazzy nodded. "Okay then, I'll tell you what happened with Mr. Bast in there." They looked at me and listened as I told them what had gone on in the office with Mr. Bast.

"So that's why he had a tie on in the office! It wasn't actually Mr. Bast!" Nudge exclaimed. "So that guy, Yion you said?" I nodded, and she went on. "Yion wanted to kill you so we would be upset and not be ready for an attack to kill the rest of us?"

"Yep," I confirmed. Gazzy shook his head in disgust.

"That just isn't right. When will we ever get to live without idiots trying to kill us?" he asked the sky. It didn't answer.

"Well what do we do now-" I started, but was interrupted by the loudspeakers crackling on.

"Attention students, classes have been canceled for the rest of the day, as have any clubs or sports practices. You may now leave campus. Have a nice day!" We stared at each other as the speakers died down again. I could hear the excited whoops of the other kids, happy to have the rest of the day off.

"Well, I guess we should just go home now." Gazzy broke our silence. Nudge and I nodded, and we all headed off to our lockers to get our stuff and go home. I wondered how long we would get to stay here before another person attacked us and we had to go again. Strangely, I didn't want to leave this school. I wondered why; I had never felt this way before. I was used to moving around a lot. Suddenly, a pair of arms encircled me, and the smell of chlorine was evident an inch or two above my head. A smile spread on my face as Tommy hugged me from behind.

"Hey Avari," he whispered into my hair.

Oh yeah. _That _was why I didn't want to leave.

**WASN'T THAT SUCH A LONG CHAPTER? I was once again wearing my thinking hat, so it would be pretty cool if it had worked again. And yeah, the thing with Yion was totally off the top of my head. I just wanted to put some drama in there, a thing with suspense. AND THE THING WITH MAX RANDOMLY GETTING DRESSED UP WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Probably. XD**

**Review? I love them!**

**ZOMG GUESS WHAT TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY! I'm so excited!**

**~TMI~**


	4. AN

Hey Peoples, I'm so sorry I've been MIA.

REPENT.

It's not entirely my fault. You see, soon after New Years-

Nudge: And that New Years Resolution you made that raised everyone's hopes about you updating quicker-

I said I was sorry! Anyway, my computer totally and utterly DIED. And I had half of the next iPod Screen chappie typed up, all of the next chapter for two other stories, the ideas for School Days and Erasing Lissa, and the beginnings of the next chapter for ATM Wars and Race for the Cure. So yeah, I need to figure out how to raise my laptop from the dead. Then, I will update EVERYTHING in a major spree! But just saying, I procrastinated on writing this A/N 'cause I hate writing them, and there are some stories where this will be the second A/N, which I HATE. I'm so sorry you guys. Please forgive me.

Angel: She's banging her head against the wall.

Gazzy: Poor TMI…. –eats cookies-

HEY! That was MY cookie! –tackles Gazzy-

…

This is Nudge writing. TMI is wrestling with Gazzy over the last cookie now. So yeah, this note was typed on TMI's mother's computer, but the lady won't let her write whole chapters 'cause it takes too long and TMI's little brother-

Angel: She calls him Shortso. XP

-needs to type up his project. So yeah! Byezas!

Angel? Will you do the honors?

Angel: SURE! So sorry about the inconvenience people, TMI is beating herself up about disappointing you guys…. Now to write her signature thingymacdoodle!

~TMI~


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